Upon seeing this scene, Zhang Cuishan finally let out a sigh of relief. What he had feared was never those with ulterior motives aiming for the Dragon-Slaying Saber, but the true avengers who only wanted to settle their blood debts with his sworn brother.
"Mr. Bo, and this great... divine physician, would it be possible to tend to Third Brother's injuries now?"
Mo Shenggu, the most impatient among them, could hardly wait for Orochimaru to start treating Yu Daiyan. The Wudang Sect had never been known for stubborn formalities. They might tread carefully when facing victims' families, but the opportunists left behind were of no concern to them.
At worst, they could simply draw a line and fight it out. The Seven Heroes of Wudang had never been afraid of anyone.
"Heh, let me see the patient first."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. Originally, he had been prepared to play the "bad cop," working with Kizaru to intimidate the crowd. Unexpectedly, with just a few words, Kizaru had already dismissed most of them, saving Orochimaru the trouble of further threats.
Kizaru himself felt a bit surprised—people these days really were too easy to sway. He had prepared several backup plans, but none had been needed.
"Divine physician, please come with me!"
Mo Shenggu eagerly led Orochimaru to see Yu Daiyan, while Kizaru stayed behind to continue facing off against the guests in the hall.
At this point, if anyone still hadn't realized that this "Mr. Kizaru" was allied with the Wudang Sect, it would be an insult to their intelligence.
But whether it was the Six Major Sects or the other schemers, unless they were willing to openly break with Wudang and risk not only a public battle but also being branded as lapdogs of the Yuan court afterward, they had no choice but to back off.
"Amitabha. I hope Hero Zhang keeps his word; otherwise, Shaolin will not sit idly by."
Faced with the impossible dilemma, it was Master Kongwen who finally broke the silence. Even Shaolin Temple could not fully withstand the weight of national loyalty.
With Shaolin taking the lead, the Six Sects and the rest of the martial artists gradually retreated as well, leaving behind only a handful of true friends who had genuinely come to celebrate Zhang Sanfeng's birthday.
But Zhang Sanfeng clearly had no mood to entertain guests anymore. He left the reluctant Hero Yin in charge of receiving the remaining visitors, and took Song Yuanqiao along with his other disciples to check on Yu Daiyan with Kizaru.
While others might still have doubts about Orochimaru's medical skills, Zhang Sanfeng, who knew the true origins of Kizaru and Orochimaru, harbored no concerns at all.
His only regret was that he hadn't thought earlier to ask members of the chat group for help with Yu Daiyan's injuries.
But this wasn't entirely his fault—being a longtime lurker, it hadn't naturally occurred to him that such a "wild" option was available.
"…Divine physician, can Third Brother's injuries be healed?"
Mo Shenggu was anxiously hovering beside Yu Daiyan. Even Yu Daiyan himself, who had nearly resigned himself to despair, grew tense. He was terrified of hearing the words "there's no cure" from Orochimaru's mouth.
"Moderate-level comminuted fractures. It's a minor issue. Hmm, I don't have surgical instruments on me. Prepare a sufficiently clean room, and I'll start the operation shortly. It won't take long to heal him."
After a brief examination of Yu Daiyan's limbs, Orochimaru quickly arrived at a conclusion.
Given Orochimaru's mastery of human modification, medical ninjutsu was hardly unfamiliar to him. Although he couldn't quite match Tsunade's skills, for injuries that didn't involve the soul, brain, or genetic structure, no matter how severe, they were all the same in his eyes.
Especially after assimilating cutting-edge biological and medical knowledge from Ai Haibara and Tony Stark's worlds, Orochimaru's understanding of the human body had advanced by leaps and bounds—he had even begun secret clone experiments.
If he had the right equipment at hand, even giving Yu Daiyan cloned replacement limbs wouldn't have been a problem.
"That's wonderful! Third Brother, did you hear that? The divine physician says it's a minor issue! You'll be healed soon!"
Mo Shenggu clutched Yu Daiyan's upper body tightly, shouting in excitement.
Over the years, the hardships Yu Daiyan had suffered were witnessed by all his senior and junior brothers. Given the deep bond between them, they could almost say they shared his pain as if it were their own.
Now that there was finally hope of curing Yu Daiyan's injuries, Mo Shenggu was genuinely overjoyed for his Third Senior Brother.
"I heard it... I heard it! My injuries can be healed! I can stand again! I don't have to live like a cripple anymore!"
Yu Daiyan was also overcome with emotion, tears streaming down his face. Only he knew the torment he had endured all these years, both physically and mentally.
The despair of needing assistance even for the most basic things like using the toilet was, for the fiercely proud Yu Daiyan, worse than death.
And this torment had seemed endless.
If not for his desire to spare his master and brothers further grief, and the hope of someday finding his enemies, Yu Daiyan might well have chosen to end his own life.
"Wait! I have to go tell everyone the good news!"
Mo Shenggu couldn't wait and was about to dash out when Yu Daiyan called him back.
"Hold on! Help me tell Fifth Brother and... and his wife... I forgive her."
Yu Daiyan's face showed clear signs of struggle, but in the end, he steeled his resolve and spoke to Mo Shenggu.
Zhang Sanfeng, who had just reached the doorway, involuntarily paused when he heard these words.
"Th-Third Brother?"
Mo Shenggu was in disbelief.
No one understood better than him, who had often cared for Yu Daiyan over the years, just how much anguish his Third Brother had carried in his heart.
Otherwise, given Yu Daiyan's naturally bold and forthright character, he would never have treated his Fifth Sister-in-law that way, even for Zhang Cuishan's sake—and none of the brothers would have been too afraid to even try to intervene.
Yet now, Yu Daiyan had chosen to forgive Yin Susu—and before his injuries were even healed.
"Go, quickly!"
Yu Daiyan furrowed his brows, but on that face, weathered and bitter from years of suffering, there was a fleeting return of the old boldness he once had.
Mo Shenggu, the youngest among the Seven Heroes, jumped at the sight. Though they were brothers, his martial skills had mostly been taught by his seniors, and seeing his Third Brother frown and show signs of anger, he dared not linger another second in the room.
"How remarkable... Truly worthy of being Zhang Zhenren's disciple..."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly, his tone carrying a hint of admiration.
Clearly, he hadn't expected Yu Daiyan to forgive the person responsible for crippling him so easily. Yu Daiyan's magnanimity reminded him of a certain incredibly irritating fool—someone like Jiraiya, who would also repay hatred with kindness.
"Divine physician, you flatter me. I simply don't want Fifth Brother to be torn between us."
Yu Daiyan gave a bitter laugh. No matter how open-hearted he might seem, it would be a lie to say he harbored no resentment at all.
But Yin Susu was already married to his Fifth Brother. Yu Daiyan didn't want to be the cause of Zhang Cuishan's family breaking apart.
What Yu Daiyan didn't know, however, was that while he spoke with Orochimaru, their master Zhang Sanfeng, along with the other senior brothers, was standing just outside the door.
Mo Shenggu, rushing out eagerly, nearly collided with Zhang Sanfeng. As for Zhang Cuishan, one of the main people involved, he was already in tears, utterly unsure how he could ever repay Third Brother's deep kindness.
Even Yin Susu, often branded as a "witch" by the martial world, was deeply moved. She had truly never expected Third Brother to be willing to forgive her.
When Zhang Sanfeng saw his disciples rushing back into the room, and then witnessed them weeping and embracing Yu Daiyan and Zhang Cuishan, he knew that a tremendous favor had just been incurred.
Though he still didn't know exactly what Kizaru wanted from him, at this point, it was clear he had no choice.
"Mr. Kizaru, what would you like this old Taoist to do?"
Only after all his disciples had rushed back into the room did Zhang Sanfeng finally take the initiative to speak up.
An old man who had lived to celebrate his hundredth birthday, calling Zhang Sanfeng a "wily old fox" would have been underestimating him.
Even though Kizaru had yet to reveal a single clue, Zhang Sanfeng could still infer from Kizaru and Orochimaru's various behaviors that they had some sort of plan—or at least an agreement—already in place.
And most likely, this plan involved him directly. Otherwise, given Orochimaru's personality, which had absolutely nothing to do with charity or goodwill, there was simply no reason for him to voluntarily help treat Yu Daiyan's injuries.
"What we want is actually very simple. To be precise, it's more like mutual benefit..."
Kizaru laid out the plan they had discussed in the chat group in full.
As expected of the Wudang Sect's Zhang Zhenren, who had weathered countless storms—even upon hearing that Kizaru wanted them to start a rebellion, Zhang Sanfeng's expression hardly changed.
"To my knowledge," Zhang Sanfeng said slowly, "there shouldn't be any treasures in this world valuable enough to attract the interest of gentlemen like yourselves?"
Though Zhang Sanfeng had remained a silent observer in the chat group for a long time, he hadn't been idly wasting his time.
At the very least, he knew that every member of the chat group, including Kizaru and Orochimaru, came from different worlds.
Each world had countless incredible treasures or special powers. By comparison, this world of his seemed exceedingly ordinary—even the famed Heaven Sword and Dragon-Slaying Saber would be nothing more than trinkets to someone like Kizaru.
Thus, Zhang Sanfeng truly couldn't imagine why Kizaru and Orochimaru would be so eager to involve themselves. And from Kizaru's hints, it was clear they weren't the only ones participating.
"Zhenren may not know," Kizaru said, "but this plan is less of an investment, and more of... a trial run."
He made no attempt to conceal their real intentions.
For Kizaru, investing a few tons—or even tens of tons—of gold was a mere drop in the ocean.
Even without touching the reserves of gold they had hauled down from Skypiea, the daily earnings from Tezoro's ship alone were enough to fund several operations of this scale.
The same applied to Stark. For Stark Industries, a company specializing in the production of arms, the cost of manufacturing weapons that didn't even reach World War I levels was negligible.
Were it not for the concern that ancient people might not even be able to operate modern equipment properly, Stark would have been willing to supply even more advanced weaponry—and perhaps at even lower cost.
The cost of the investment was insignificant compared to the potential return: an entire world.
Even if they couldn't deeply exploit this world's resources immediately, the benefits gained just by overthrowing this nation would be more than enough to be tempting.
And more importantly, this trial run could serve as a model—so that when the chat group encountered even more suitable worlds in the future, they could use this as a template, working together to develop those new worlds' resources.
"It seems this old Taoist has little reason to refuse cooperation with you..."
Zhang Sanfeng let out a faint sigh.
Though in Kizaru's depiction, he and Wudang would almost be reaping the benefits without lifting a finger, Zhang Sanfeng still couldn't help but feel cautious—especially considering how much "Mr. Kizaru" seemed to know about this world.
They were even proposing to elevate Taoism, and the Wudang Sect specifically, to the status of a state religion—with Zhang Sanfeng himself being appointed as the National Teacher.
It was only thanks to Zhang Sanfeng's profound calm and self-control that he wasn't swayed on the spot. If it had been any other sect leader, they would likely have agreed without a moment's hesitation.
"Of course, with unlimited supplies of weapons, grain, and money—and the righteous cause of expelling the Mongol invaders—I can't imagine any way this war could fail. If necessary, even Esdeath can personally step in. With her strength, even an army of a million would be reduced to ashes."
Kizaru spoke with total calm.
Even putting aside Kizaru himself, a walking nuclear bomb, the chat group's current collective power could very likely succeed in sparking a rebellion in the One Piece world—perhaps even more effectively than the Revolutionary Army.
Esdeath alone was strong enough to rival an Admiral. Tohru might struggle slightly against smaller, agile enemies like the Admirals, but her destructive power against ordinary soldiers was overwhelming, making her easily among the highest tiers of combat strength.
Not to mention Orochimaru and Tony Stark, whose contributions would be just as formidable.
If not for the fact that the chat group couldn't transport non-members across dimensions, the combined strength of Konoha Village and Stark Industries would have already made the current dimensional chat group capable of fighting the Navy Headquarters head-on.
Persuaded by Kizaru, Zhang Sanfeng proactively reached an agreement with several members of the chat group. For instance, Kizaru promised to provide Zhang Cuishan with a lump sum equivalent to 150,000 taels of gold as military funding.
This money would be used to recruit and equip an army. Afterward, for every quarter-year in the Heaven Sword world, Kizaru would supply an additional 50,000 taels worth of funding.
In exchange, Zhang Cuishan needed only to supply Kizaru with pine and cedar for shipbuilding, along with silk and porcelain—goods considered hard currency even in the world of One Piece.
Additionally, Kizaru expressed interest in acquiring large quantities of ores from the Heaven Sword world, but this business was quickly taken over by Stark.
Compared to the ancient world's labor-intensive mining, modern industrial productivity was absolutely explosive. Even though Stark Industries wasn't directly involved in the metallurgy business, Stark didn't mind acquiring a few mining companies for the sake of such massive profits.
Along with Kizaru, Stark and Orochimaru also reached their own cooperation agreements: Stark would supply weapons and food, while Orochimaru would handle intelligence gathering and assassination services.
Even though Konoha's ninjas couldn't travel directly to the Heaven Sword world, Orochimaru could still use the snakes of Ryuchi Cave to provide ample support to Zhang Cuishan.
Orochimaru had even suggested sending giant serpents like Manda into battle. However, once Zhang Sanfeng learned that Manda was prone to eating people, he decisively rejected Orochimaru's "kind offer."
There was also assistance provided out of pure goodwill by Haibara Ai and Esdeath.
The former donated enough antibiotics for fifty thousand people, completely free of charge. As for Esdeath, she straightforwardly promised to act as a substitute fighter.
If needed, she would personally intervene to crush Zhang Cuishan's enemies.
Of course, by Esdeath's standards, the opponent would need to be sufficiently interesting—meaning at least an army of over one hundred thousand soldiers.
Considering how much had happened that day, even Zhang Sanfeng needed time to calm his mind. Apart from Orochimaru, who stayed behind to continue treating Yu Daiyan, the other group members took the initiative to bid farewell.
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